In 1999, “The Sixth Sense” had moviegoers in a tizzy over its now
famous twist ending. Emphatic water cooler discussions were had and
audiences went back for repeat viewings, looking for clues as to how
they were duped. The masses loved the clever trickery so much, the film
went on to gross more than $293,000,000 domestically and garnered six
Oscar nominations. “The Usual Suspects” used a similar formula just
four years earlier with similar results. While the twist ending has
been used for years, Hollywood smelled a profitable trend and proceeded
to pump out a steady stream of formulaic movies relying on the “I
didn’t see that coming” conclusion.

That trend continues to this day, and with very few exceptions, the
films are complete garbage. Usually littering the horror and thriller
genres, these movies have a generic manufactured quality with plenty of
implausibility and predictability to boot. Sometimes the film is
actually decent and stands on its own, but then they throw in a twist
that’s supposed to make it seemingly that much better. See the French
horror film, “Haute tension” for a prime example. Then there’s “Perfect
Stranger” which is the exact opposite. The film is just slightly better
than a waste of time, and then with ten minutes left, the audience is
fed a ridiculous twist that takes the remainder of the story just to
explain.

Rowena Price (Halle Berry), known as “Ro” to her closest friends, is an
investigative reporter for the New York Courier, the film’s faux New
York Post. After her big story exposing the Senator’s gay love affair
with a former intern is brushed under the rug, Ro bumps into old friend
Grace Clayton (Nicki Aycox) in the subway. It seems that Grace has been
having an affair with hotshot advertising mogul Harrison Hill (Bruce
Willis), but Hill has cut her off and she’s out for some good ol’
fashioned revenge. Hill has been known for his extramarital affairs,
but is now under heavy surveillance by his wife, who serves as the
source of wealth and financial backing for the firm.

The next day, Grace turns up brutally murdered, and Ro sets out to
avenge her friends death and pin the rap on Hill, while getting herself
another high-profile story in the Courier. In order to do this, she
must link an e-mail address Hill used to communicate with Grace, to
Hill’s computer. With the help of fellow reporter and hacker
extraordinaire Miles Haley (Giovanni Ribisi), Ro gets a job at Hill’s
firm posing as a saucy temp. It’s not long before she catches Hill’s
eye and the sexy game of cat and mouse begins.

As with any half-decent film employing a twist ending, the events
leading up to the twist take on a different meaning upon second
viewing, due to its new context. “Perfect Stranger” has none of that.
After the credits roll, there’s not a single scene that comes to mind
that will have you thinking, “Ohhhh, now I get why she was doing that!”
In fact, the only thing you’ll be saying to yourself is, “Why?” The
film fails to keep you involved leading up to its twist, and by the
time it’s revealed, you really don’t care.

So why then would two A-list actors sign on for such crap? I think
Bruce Willis said it best in an interview discussing the level of
difficulty in playing his part: “Not a hard day at the office. Go to
work and flirt with Halle Berry.” Then he flashes that trademark
million-dollar smirk, and all questions are answered.

“Perfect Stranger” comes to Blu-ray in full 1080p, using the AVC MPEG-4
video codec. Director James Foley and cinematographer Anastas Michos
used what they like to call a “hot fudge” visual style, setting rich
dark hues against bright backgrounds and surfaces. The result is
stunning, with plenty of glossy images that shine in hi-definition.
After close examination, I have to say this appears to be a flawless
transfer. The source is pristine with no signs of dirt or dust. Blacks
are deep with excellent shadow delineation and I never spotted even the
faintest trace of video noise. Contrast is also excellent with
consistent three-dimensional qualities. Seeing as this isn’t a
high-profile release, I can only hope that this will now be the
standard for all future Blu-ray discs, regardless of whether or not
it’s one of the studio’s biggest cash cows.

The audio also gets the first class treatment with an uncompressed PCM
5.1 surround track. This isn’t a sound effects-heavy film but
everything from the highs to the deepest bass is wonderfully clear.
Dynamic range is great with all the dialogue being perfectly balanced
amongst the ambient sounds and score filling the surround channels.
This won’t be the go-to flick when showcasing your sound-system, but
it’s exactly what you should expect from a quality Blu-ray release.

Sony skimped on the special features for this disc, although I highly
doubt we’ll ever see a “Perfect Strangers” special edition, nor will
anybody be crying for one. What we do get is a standard issue,
twelve-minute featurette fluff-piece with cast and crew talking about
how great it was to work with so-and-so and why they were drawn to such
an amazing script. This stuff has become so familiar, it’s nearly
impossible to get through unless you truly love the film. On the other
hand, it’s presented in full 1080p and looks darn good, which is about
the only positive thing I can say about it.

“Perfect Stranger” is another in a long line of formulaic twisty
thrillers from the Hollywood schlock machine. Devoid of any
originality, suspense, or thrills, not even a superb audio/video
package can bring me to recommend this one. My only hope is that this
release is a sign that more and more future Blu-ray discs will get the
same top-notch transfer, regardless of the film’s merit.